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Wednesday, February 10, 2010

Well, that was just plain WEIRD

Hello all! I survived my 2 tests!! Let's see, I left you on Monday telling you about my visit with Dr. Schriber. Nothing really too exciting happened yesterday besides going to the lab and getting bloodwork done and finding out I had to collect my pee pee for 24 hours. That was fun! NOT. Glad that's over with. Now, onto today.

I was up bright and early at 5am, Mom was going to be here at 5:45...well, Dad came too! I had an inkling he was going to be there for support as well and he sure was! We were off to Banner Desert at Dobson/Southern. The place was dead, I had no idea where I was going so it took a bit to figure that out but we were finally pointed in the right direction. I got checked in the the MUGA scan first. Mom and Dad were able to come back with me and they actually watched the entire process.

First she put an IV type thing in my arm, drew out some blood and then it had to "cook" for about 20 minutes. They were putting some tracers in my blood and then after that was done, they put the blood back in me, I laid on the bed and then 3 different pictures were being taken of my heart for 10 minutes each. Well, my back is already killing me and I'm already in pain so laying on my back was super uncomfortable but I made it. That was painless, easy and over with...

We had a nice little break before my bone marrow biopsy so we went down the street to Village Inn and got some breakfast. I took my meds, ate a little (my nerves were kicking in) and then it was back to the hospital. Got checked in right away. I had to go upstairs to the lab and get 2 more viles of blood taken and then I had to return them to the front office lady. Didn't wait too much longer and I was taken to the back. Mom and Dad got to join.

I got up on the bed and pretty much just waited. They were all pretty surprised that I was being put under for this procedure and that I opted to have just local anesthetics. Well, I don't recall having a choice...so local it was. They "prepped" me mentally, I waited for about 1/2 hour and off I went. I was quite nervous. Ugh...it's agonizing not knowing how it's going to feel, the anticipation, etc. etc. I just wanted it over with.

Well, they were right in every aspect of how they explained it. It really took me quite some time to describe how it felt. First it just felt like bee stings when she was putting the anesthetic in...skin first then deeper. She kept asking, "Can you feel this, can you feel this?" Finally I was like, "No" and off we were. Well, it felt weird. That's the best way to describe it. First it was like she was grinding into my bone (I know you all are cringing and thank GOD I wasn't able to see what actually was happening...I was laying on my side). Picture a wine opener going into a cork...that's what I'm assuming was happening. Then, the bad 10 seconds. The weirdest sensation I have ever felt. And man did it hurt...but not that bad. It was only 10 seconds...and she kept telling me to take breaths and by then it was over. It felt like a rope was being pulled out of me...I could feel the sensation all the way down my leg and into my feet down to my toes. That was just the nerves being hit. SO WEIRD. It felt hot, like it was burning...literally like something was being pulled out of you...well, it was! My bone marrow!! Marrow is just a thicker blood so that's why it takes a bit longer to get out. I was soooo happy when that part was over...but I wasn't done yet. That was just the worst.

Then, she went a corkin' back in and did the core biopsy. That didn't hurt that bad, just more pressure maybe a few grimaces, but definitely nothing like the 10 seconds before that. Then, finally she was done and out she came. She just had to make sure that the sample she got was good enough and I said, "I know it is, it has to be!" They were happy with my positive thinking and look at that, the sample was perfect!! She showed it to me too...it look like half a red toothpick. Weird.

They cleaned me up, put a 2x2 bandage on me, a little pressure and off to recovery I was. They just monitored my stats, checked the area for bleeding (none) and then Mom and Dad came back...we were there maybe 20-30 minutes and off I was!! The entire biopsy took maybe 20 minutes. Not bad at all. I may have to do that again in the future but I still won't be put under. It wasn't that bad that I couldn't endure it again...but I definitely don't want to!

So, my day of being poked and prodded and grinded is over with. The word of the day is weird. So weird.

I feel pretty good today. I'm a little sore back there but I don't think the anesthetic has all worn off yet. I'm very sleepy so I'm off to take a nap. Thanks for your positive thoughts today...I have one last test tomorrow morning, my PET scan...that will be a real piece of cake compared to today!!

wow! that is intense. Glad you made it through all that with little pain... hopefully it won't be too sore when the drugs wear off!! Get some rest and let us know how the results turn out. You are in my mind all the time.